Chapter 3
The hum of the Goliath-1's engine was a low, vibrating growl that seemed to be the only thing keeping the encroaching silence of the world at bay. Inside the armored cabin, the air was filtered and cool, smelling faintly of ozone and expensive leather. It was a stark contrast to the copper tang of blood and the scorched-rubber scent of the chaos they had left behind at Fujimi High.
Aron sat in the command chair, his eyes fixed on a translucent holographic display that hovered just above the center console. Raphael was feeding him a constant stream of data: heat maps of Tokonosu City, police band chatter that was rapidly devolving into static, and the status of the Aegis perimeter.
"Raphael, status of the maintenance tunnels," Aron muttered.
In the back of the SUV, the atmosphere was thick with shock. Shizuka was huddled in a corner, her eyes unfocused as she clutched a medical kit. Kohta was obsessively checking the tension on his nail gun, his breath coming in ragged hitches. But it was Saya Takagi who broke the silence, her voice sharp with a desperation that her intellect couldn't quite mask.
"This is impossible," she snapped, though her hands were trembling as she adjusted her glasses. "The structural integrity of this vehicle, the satellite uplink, the... the voice in the speakers. This isn't just 'rich kid' toys, Minami. You have military-grade hardware that shouldn't exist in private hands. And that sword... it cut through the school's security gates like they were paper."
Aron didn't turn around. "Logic dictates that when the laws of society vanish, the laws of physics are the only ones that matter. I chose to invest in the latter."
"Don't give me that philosophical nonsense!" Saya stood up, grabbing the back of Aron's seat. "You knew! You've been building this for months. Maybe years. You let those people die while you sat in your mansion playing warlord!"
"I let people die because I am one person, not a government," Aron said, finally turning his head. His eyes were devoid of the warmth he had shown Shizuka in the infirmary. They were cold, analytical, and reflected the glowing data points of the HUD. "I saved the people who had the highest probability of survival and utility. You are one of them, Takagi. If you'd prefer to be back on the stairs with your 'logic,' I can open the door right now."
Saya recoiled as if stung, her face flushing a deep red before turning ghostly pale. Beside her, Takashi Komuro narrowed his eyes. "You don't have to be a jerk about it. We're all on the same side here."
"Are we?" Aron asked. "Because on my side, there is only one rule: I lead, you follow. I didn't bring you here to be my conscience, Komuro. I brought you here because you're a body that can swing a bat. Don't mistake my pragmatism for cruelty. Cruelty is what's happening outside those windows."
Saeko, who had been silently cleaning her new blade with a microfiber cloth, let out a soft, melodic laugh. "He's right, you know. The world we knew ended fifteen minutes ago. You can either mourn the corpse of civilization or you can sharpen your teeth. Personally, I prefer the steel."
The vehicle suddenly banked hard to the left, the tires screeching as it entered the final stretch of the industrial tunnel. A massive steel door, marked with the logo of the 'Aegis Research Initiative,' loomed ahead.
The doors slid open with a heavy, hydraulic hiss, revealing a brightly lit, sterile tunnel lined with reinforced concrete and automated turret placements. As the Goliath-1 rolled inside, the doors slammed shut behind them, the sound echoing like a tomb being sealed.
They drove for another minute through the underground labyrinth before finally coming to a stop in a massive subterranean garage. Waiting for them was a team of four men in tactical gear, led by the engineer, Sato.
"Master Minami!" Sato stepped forward, his face etched with relief. "The sensors are picking up massive disturbances across the entire prefecture. The grid is fluctuating, but the geothermal units are holding steady."
Aron stepped out of the SUV, the 'Black Lily' sheathed at his hip. "Seal the garage. I want a full decontamination sweep of the vehicle's exterior. Sato, take the boy—Hirano—to the armory. Give him the clearance to begin assembling the long-range platforms. He knows what he's doing."
"Hey! I'm not a 'boy'!" Kohta protested, but his eyes widened as he saw the rows of crates marked with international weapon manufacturers. He practically tripped over himself to follow Sato.
Aron turned to Shizuka, his expression softening just a fraction. "Shizuka-sensei. I need you to go with the medical team. We have a fully stocked surgical suite. Familiarize yourself with the inventory. If any of our staff show even a scratch, I want them quarantined immediately. No exceptions."
Shizuka nodded, her lower lip trembling. "I... I understand, Aron-kun. Thank you for saving me."
"Go," he said gently.
As the others were led away by the staff, only Saeko, Saya, and Takashi remained. Aron looked at the two students who didn't yet have a place in his machine.
"Takagi, follow me to the Command Center. I have a job for your 'brilliant' mind. Komuro... go to the gym. My head of security, Volkov, will see if you're worth the food you'll be eating. If you can't beat a retired Spetsnaz operator in a sparring match, you're on kitchen duty."
"Kitchen duty?" Takashi bristled. "I just fought my way through a school full of monsters!"
"You survived a school full of monsters," Aron corrected, walking toward the elevator. "In here, we don't just survive. We conquer. Move."
The Command Center was a cathedral of data. Dozens of screens covered the walls, showing live feeds from hacked CCTV cameras across Japan. Raphael had already begun the process of "Deep Harvesting"—recording every scrap of information about the virus's spread before the internet inevitably collapsed.
"Sit," Aron said, gesturing to a terminal next to his.
Saya sat, her fingers hovering over the keyboard. Her eyes scanned the data streams, her brain finally clicking into gear as she realized the sheer scale of what she was looking at.
"You're tracking the infection rates in real-time," she whispered. "The mortality rate is 100%. Reanimation occurs within three minutes of clinical death... wait, look at this. The spread isn't just linear. It's clustering around the evacuation centers."
"Because the government is herding the sheep into the slaughterhouse," Aron said, leaning back. "Raphael, show her the 'Aegis Projection'."
A map appeared, showing Tokonosu City. A blue circle was drawn around the industrial district—their current location.
"Within 72 hours, the city will be overrun," Aron explained. "The bridges will be blown by the military to contain the spread. We are in the 'Dead Zone.' No help is coming, and no one is getting out. Our objective is to secure a 5-mile radius around this facility. We need the gas stations, the hardware stores, and the pharmacy warehouses. I want you to calculate the most efficient routes for our scavenging teams. Minimize exposure, maximize yield."
Saya looked at the map, then at Aron. The fear in her eyes was being replaced by a cold, calculating spark. "You're not just hiding. You're building a kingdom."
"A kingdom needs a foundation, Takagi. Right now, our foundation is canned peaches and 5.56 ammunition."
For the next four hours, the Aegis facility was a hive of activity. Aron moved from station to station, his presence a stabilizing force for the staff. He watched through a glass partition as Kohta Hirano meticulously stripped and oiled a Remington 700 sniper rifle, the boy's face twisted in a look of pure, blissful concentration. He watched as Saeko practiced her swings in the training hall, her new steel blade singing through the air.
But in the quiet moments, Aron felt the weight of the 'Wisdom Lord' shifting.
'I'm working on it, Raphael,' Aron thought. 'What about the 'Them' outside? Any change in behavior?'
Aron froze. "Evolving? How?"
Aron clenched his fist. The timeline was shrinking. He had prepared for a zombie apocalypse, but Raphael was describing something more dangerous.
"We need to move faster. We can't wait for the city to die. We have to go out now, while there's still something left to take."
He headed to the armory. Kohta looked up as Aron entered, holding out a belt of specialized pouches.
"I finished the modifications, Aron-kun," Kohta said, his voice finally steady. "The suppressors on the HK416s are as quiet as they can be. And I've prepped the 'beehive' rounds for the shotguns. They'll shred anything within twenty feet."
"Good. Gear up, Hirano. We're taking a team out."
"Out? Now?"
"The military is going to firebomb the commercial district soon to 'sanitize' the area. There's a specialized medical warehouse three miles from here. It has the chemicals Shizuka needs to synthesize a more potent antiseptic. We're going to get it before it turns into ash."
Aron grabbed his tactical vest and the 'Black Lily.' He looked at his reflection in the polished steel of a locker. He didn't see a high school student anymore. He saw a man who had traded his soul for a chance to stand above the ruins of the world.
"Raphael, activate the 'Vanguard' protocol. Prepare the drone swarm for aerial support."
Aron walked into the garage, where Saeko was already waiting, her tactical gear fitting her like a second skin. She looked at him, a dark, knowing smile on her lips.
"Leaving so soon?" she asked.
"The world is ending, Saeko. It's rude to keep it waiting."
They climbed into the 'Goliath-2'—a lighter, faster version of the SUV they had arrived in. As the heavy gates of the Aegis facility opened once more, Aron looked out at the darkening sky. The first fires were beginning to dot the horizon, and the wind carried the sound of a thousand hungry voices.
He stepped on the gas, the vehicle roaring as it shot out into the wasteland.
The city was a different beast at night. The flickering streetlights cast long, jagged shadows that seemed to dance with the movement of the dead. As they drove, Aron watched the HUD, where Raphael was highlighting "Heat Signatures"—clumps of 'Them' gathered around abandoned buses and storefronts.
"Don't stop for anything," Aron said, his hands firm on the wheel. "If they get in the way, plow through them. We don't have time for a skirmish."
"Look at that..." Kohta whispered, pointing toward a luxury hotel.
A group of survivors was on the roof, waving white sheets and screaming for help. Below them, the lobby glass had shattered, and a sea of 'Them' was pouring inside. The screams were cut short as the crowd reached the top.
Aron didn't look. He couldn't afford to.
"Raphael, distance to target."
<800 meters. Warning: A high-density cluster is blocking the intersection of 4th and Main. I suggest the service alleyway behind the pharmacy.>
Aron yanked the wheel, the SUV sliding sideways into a narrow alley. The walls scraped against the armored plating, the sound like a thousand nails on a chalkboard. They burst out the other side, right in front of the medical warehouse.
"Saeko, Hirano! Out! Secure the perimeter. I'm going for the chemical crates."
They leaped from the vehicle. Kohta immediately took a knee, his suppressed rifle barking as he picked off three zombies that were stumbling toward them from the parking lot. Saeko was a blur of movement, her blade flashing in the moonlight as she carved a path through the loading dock.
Aron sprinted inside. The warehouse was pitch black, but his HUD provided a perfect thermal view. He moved through the aisles with ghostly silence.
Aron didn't even draw his sword. He pulled a combat knife and moved. Three quick stabs to the base of the skulls, then a spinning throw that pinned the 'crawler' in the rafters to a wooden beam.
He found the crates—marked with the 'Minami Global' logo. He had ordered these months ago, but the delivery had been stalled by the very board of directors he had ruined. Now, he was taking them back.
He hauled the heavy crates toward the loading dock just as a loud, piercing alarm began to blare.
"Hirano! What happened?" Aron yelled.
"I didn't do it! The building's automated security just tripped!" Kohta shouted back, his rifle firing in rapid bursts now. "The noise! They're coming from everywhere!"
Aron looked out the dock. From every side street, the 'Them' were pouring in, drawn by the siren like moths to a flame. There were hundreds of them.
"Get to the SUV!" Aron roared.
He threw the crates into the back of the Goliath-2 and jumped into the driver's seat. Saeko slid in beside him, her face flushed with the exertion of the kill. Kohta scrambled into the back, barely pulling his legs in before Aron floored it.
The SUV slammed into the front line of the horde. The sound of bodies thudding against the reinforced bumper was sickening, but the vehicle didn't slow down. They were swimming through a sea of gray flesh.
"I'm trying, Raphael!"
Aron spun the wheel, trying to find a gap. Suddenly, a massive shape lunged from the second story of a nearby building. It crashed onto the roof of the SUV with enough force to dent the armor.
It wasn't a normal zombie. It was larger, its muscles bulging and its skin a sickly, bruised purple. It began to tear at the roof plating with its bare hands.
"What is that thing?!" Kohta screamed, pointing his rifle at the ceiling.
"Don't shoot! You'll hit the electronics!" Aron yelled.
Saeko didn't hesitate. She opened the sunroof, her blade in hand. "Watch the road, Aron. I'll handle the guest."
She climbed halfway out, her body braced against the wind. The 'Stage 2' creature roared, a sound that was far too human to be comfortable, and lunged at her. Saeko danced back, her blade flickering in a deadly pattern. She sliced through its reaching fingers, then drove the steel through its jaw.
The creature fell from the roof, disappearing under the wheels of the SUV.
Saeko dropped back into her seat, her hair a mess, a wild grin on her face. "That was... different."
"Raphael wasn't kidding," Aron muttered, his heart racing. "They're evolving. And they're getting fast."
They broke through the final line of the horde and raced back toward the industrial district. As the Aegis gates appeared in the distance, Aron felt a cold realization settle in his gut.
The six months of preparation had given him a fortress and a team. But the world wasn't just ending—it was changing into something he hadn't fully accounted for.
As the Goliath-2 rolled into the garage and the doors sealed shut, Aron stepped out and looked at his hands. They were shaking. Not from fear, but from the realization of the scale of the task ahead.
"Sato!" Aron barked as the engineer ran toward them. "Take these chemicals to Shizuka immediately. Tell her we need the combat stims ready by morning."
"Yes, sir! But... what happened to the roof of the vehicle?"
Aron looked at the deep gouges in the armored steel.
"The rules changed, Sato. Get the repair crews working. We're going back out in twelve hours."
He turned to Saeko and Kohta. "Go rest. You did well. But tomorrow... tomorrow we start the real fortification. We're not just holding this base. We're clearing the district."
As they walked away, Aron stood alone in the garage.
'Not now, Raphael. Analyze the footage from the roof. I want to know exactly how that thing's muscle density changed. We need to know how to kill them faster.'
Aron narrowed his eyes. "Who is it?"
Aron gripped the hilt of the 'Black Lily.' The shadows of the garage seemed to lengthen around him.
"Then the King is going to have to deal with me," he whispered.
The first day of the end was over. And Aron Minami was just getting started.
The silence that followed the closing of the garage doors was absolute, a heavy, pressurized quiet that only served to amplify the ringing in Aron's ears. He stood by the scarred hood of the Goliath-2, his fingers tracing the deep, jagged furrows left by the Stage 2 creature. The steel was cold, but the implications were burning. Raphael was already stripping the video data from the SUV's external cameras, feeding a wireframe reconstruction of the creature into Aron's neural link.
'So we move to .45 ACP or .308 for the perimeter guards,' Aron thought, his mind already shifting pieces on a board only he could see. 'And we need more than just steel for the walls.'
He walked out of the garage and headed toward the Command Center. As he moved through the halls, he saw the staff working with a frantic, desperate energy. They had seen the news; they had seen the smoke on the horizon. The reality of their situation had finally set in. They weren't employees anymore; they were the last crew of a sinking ship, and Aron was the only one who knew where the lifeboats were.
He found Saya Takagi still at her terminal. She hadn't moved since he left, but her eyes were bloodshot, and she had four different windows of code and geographic data open simultaneously.
"You're back," she said, her voice raspy. She didn't look at him. "I heard the alarm over the radio. You ran into something... different, didn't you?"
"A mutation," Aron said, leaning over her shoulder to look at her progress. "Raphael's calling it Stage 2. They're faster, stronger, and they can climb. Your 'efficient routes' just got a lot more complicated."
Saya finally looked up, her glasses sliding down her nose. "I've already accounted for it. If they can climb, we stop using the alleyways. We stay in the middle of wide boulevards where we have clear lines of sight. I've also mapped the local power sub-stations. If we can secure the one in the northern district, we can keep the Aegis perimeter electrified for another six months without touching our fuel reserves."
"Good. Prepare a briefing for the security team. We move at dawn."
Aron turned to leave, but Saya caught his sleeve. Her bravado was gone, replaced by a raw, naked fear. "Aron... that signal. The one Raphael picked up. 'The King has arrived.' I tracked the origin point. It's coming from the Tokonosu Police Headquarters."
Aron narrowed his eyes. "The police? Are there survivors?"
"It's not a distress signal," Saya whispered. "It's a broadcast. High-power, wide-spectrum. Someone is using the police's emergency broadcast system to declare... territory."
Aron felt a cold prickle at the base of his neck. In the original timeline, the collapse was chaotic, but it was mostly a story of survival against the dead. But with his presence, and the sheer amount of wealth and technology he had injected into the world, the butterfly effect was in full swing.
"Raphael, can you identify the voice?"
"Keep on it. If there's another player on the board, I want to know if they're a pawn or a queen."
Aron left Saya to her work and headed toward the residential wing. He needed to check on Shizuka. He found her in the medical bay, standing over a microscope. The sterile white light of the room made her look exhausted, but she was focused.
"Aron-kun," she said, sensing him. She didn't turn around. "The samples you brought back... they're not like any virus I've ever seen. It's not just attacking the cells; it's rewriting them. It's like a parasitic architect. It uses the body's own resources to build something new. Something... predatory."
Aron stepped up behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder. He could feel her trembling. "Can you make the stimulant, Shizuka? We need our teams to stay awake and focused for the next seventy-two hours."
"I can," she said, turning to face him. Her eyes were filled with tears. "But Aron-kun... if I make these, they'll be addicted. It's a heavy chemical cocktail. It'll keep them going, but the crash will be brutal."
"The alternative is they fall asleep and get eaten," Aron said, his voice firm but not unkind. "In this world, Shizuka, 'brutal' is a luxury. We take the crash over the grave. Understood?"
Shizuka looked at him for a long moment, seeing the boy she had treated in the infirmary and the commander he had become. She nodded slowly. "I'll have the first batch ready by 05:00."
"Thank you, Shizuka. Get some rest after. That's an order."
Aron walked to his private quarters—a spartan room near the Command Center. He didn't lie down. He sat on the floor, the 'Black Lily' resting across his knees. He closed his eyes and entered a state of deep meditation, allowing Raphael to synchronize with his neural pathways.
'Show me.'
In his mind's eye, Aron saw a simulation of the city. The red dots of the infected were no longer moving randomly. They were forming patterns. They were migrating toward water sources and high-ground positions. He saw Stage 3—creatures with chitinous skin and elongated limbs, capable of leaping across rooftops. He saw the total collapse of the Japanese mainland within six weeks.
'And the Aegis?'
'I don't like those odds, Raphael.'
Aron opened his eyes. The Takagi estate. Saya's father, Souichiro Takagi. A man of immense power and nationalist zeal. He was a variable Aron hadn't wanted to deal with yet, but Raphael's logic was sound. If the city was going to fall, he needed more than one bunker. He needed a feudal system.
The sun rose over a city that was no longer breathing. Smoke choked the sky, and the distant sound of small arms fire told the story of a dozen last stands.
Aron stood in the garage, facing his primary team. Saeko, Kohta, Takashi, and a squad of six private contractors. They were all geared up, their faces hidden behind ballistic masks and tactical goggles.
"Today, we secure our lifeline," Aron said, his voice amplified by the comms system in their helmets. "We are moving to the Takagi estate. We clear the path, we establish a secure transport corridor, and we bring Saya's family into the Aegis network. This isn't a rescue mission. It's an expansion. Hirano, you're on the roof of the lead vehicle. If anything looks like it's evolving, kill it before it reaches us. Saeko, you're with me in the breach."
"Understood," Saeko said, her voice sounding breathless and eager. She was already gripping the hilt of her katana, her knuckles white.
"Takashi, you stay with the rear guard. If we get cut off, your job is to keep the path open for the retreat. Don't be a hero. Just be a wall."
Takashi nodded, his face set in a grim mask. He had spent the night sparring with Volkov, and his bruised jaw was a testament to the lessons he had learned. He was no longer the boy with the baseball bat; he was a soldier in the making.
The gates opened.
The two-vehicle convoy shot out into the industrial district. The 'Goliath-1' led the way, its heavy plow blade clearing the abandoned cars and charred corpses from the road with a series of sickening thuds.
"Hirano! Target the bridge towers!" Aron barked over the radio.
"I see them!" Kohta's voice crackled. The heavy M249 SAW mounted on the roof of the SUV began to chug, its rhythmic thumping shaking the entire vehicle. The tracers lit up the morning mist, stitching a line of fire across the bridge's suspension cables.
As they reached the bridge, Aron saw them. It wasn't 'Them.' It was men.
They were wearing police riot gear, but the markings had been painted over with a crude, white crown. They had set up a barricade of overturned buses and were armed with assault rifles.
"They're shooting at us!" Takashi yelled as bullets began to spark off the Goliath's armor.
"They aren't police anymore," Aron said, his eyes narrowing. "Raphael, initiate 'Auto-Countermeasure' systems."
The SUV's hood opened, revealing a series of small, automated mortar tubes. They launched a volley of smoke and flash-bang canisters, turning the bridge into a white-out zone.
"Ram them!"
The Goliath-1 slammed into the bus barricade at sixty miles per hour. The impact was violent, the sound of tearing metal screaming through the air. The SUV groaned but didn't stop, pushing the wreckage aside like a toy.
Aron slammed on the brakes as they cleared the barricade, the SUV sliding to a halt in the middle of the bridge.
"Saeko! With me!"
Aron leaped from the driver's seat, the 'Black Lily' already unsheathed. Three men in riot gear were scrambling out of the smoke, raising their weapons. Aron didn't give them a chance. He was a blur of black and silver, his blade severing the barrels of their rifles before continuing through their throats.
He didn't feel the hesitation he would have felt in his previous life. To him, these weren't people; they were obstacles to his survival. Raphael was feeding him their heart rates, their breath patterns, their fear. He was playing a game where he already knew every move.
Saeko was beside him, her blade a flash of crimson in the white smoke. She moved with a terrifying fluidness, her laughter barely audible over the sound of the wind. She wasn't just killing; she was practicing.
"Aron! Behind you!" Saeko cried.
A man in a heavy, reinforced suit—a J-SDF EOD technician's outfit—stepped out of the smoke, wielding a massive breaching hammer. He swung it with a roar, the head of the hammer whistling through the air.
Aron didn't parry. He stepped into the swing, his body inches from the crushing force, and drove the 'Black Lily' through the gap in the man's neck armor. The man collapsed, the hammer hitting the pavement with a dull thud.
Aron stood over the body, his breath steady. Around him, the smoke was clearing, revealing a dozen dead men in crown-marked gear.
"Kohta! Status!"
"All clear on the roof, Aron-kun! But... more are coming from the city side! We need to move!"
They scrambled back into the vehicles and accelerated across the bridge, leaving the graveyard behind.
"Raphael, what did you find on the handset?"
Aron gripped the steering wheel so hard the leather groaned. Shido. The name was familiar—a corrupt teacher from the original story, but here, he had clearly used his influence to build something much more dangerous than a bus full of terrified students.
"So, he wants my fortress," Aron whispered. "Then he's going to have to walk over a mountain of his own men to get it."
The convoy reached the outskirts of the Takagi estate ten minutes later. The walls were high, topped with razor wire, and men with hunting rifles were patrolling the ramparts. As the Goliath-1 approached, the men leveled their weapons.
"Identify yourselves!" a voice boomed over a loudspeaker.
Aron stepped out of the vehicle, his hands empty but his presence radiating an undeniable authority. "I am Aron Minami. I have your daughter, Saya Takagi, safe in my vehicle. Open the gates, or I'll take them down myself."
There was a long, tense silence. Then, the heavy wooden gates began to creak open.
The estate was a step back in time—traditional Japanese architecture, manicured gardens, and a sense of order that felt alien in the new world. Standing on the porch of the main house was a man who looked like he had been carved out of granite. Souichiro Takagi.
He watched as Aron, Saeko, and the others stepped out of the SUVs. His eyes moved over their high-tech gear, their blood-stained blades, and finally, his daughter as she ran toward him.
"Father!" Saya cried, throwing herself into his arms.
Souichiro held her for a moment before looking back at Aron. "You're the Minami boy. I heard your parents died. I expected you to be cowering in your mansion, not leading a private army."
"The mansion is a tomb, Takagi-san," Aron said, stepping forward. "I've built something better. But your estate is a target. Shido is moving through the city, and he's looking for places like this."
Souichiro's eyes narrowed. "Shido? That snake? He has no power here."
"He has the police broadcast system and a hundred men in riot gear," Aron countered. "And he knows about your stockpile. I'm here to offer you a deal. We link our perimeters. My technology, your manpower. We create a dead zone between here and the Aegis. We don't just survive Shido; we erase him."
Souichiro looked at his daughter, then at the 'Black Lily' at Aron's hip. He could see the truth in the boy's eyes—the same cold, hard truth he had spent his life cultivating.
"You talk like a man who has already won," Souichiro said.
"I talk like a man who knows the alternative," Aron replied. "The dead are the least of our problems, Takagi-san. The living are the ones who are going to try and take everything we have. Do we stand together, or do I leave you to see how long your walls hold against a thousand hungry mouths and Shido's ego?"
Souichiro let out a short, bark-like laugh. "You have your father's arrogance, boy. But you have something else, too. A shadow."
He stepped aside, gesturing toward the house. "Come in. We have much to discuss. But if you touch my daughter, I'll kill you myself."
Aron smirked. "I'm more interested in your armory than your daughter, Takagi-san. But the sentiment is appreciated."
As they walked into the house, Raphael provided a final update for the hour.
Aron sat down at the low table, the 'Black Lily' resting beside him. He could feel the eyes of Saeko and Saya on him—one with admiration, one with a new, terrified respect. He didn't care. He was looking at the map of the city, at the red dots moving closer, and at the white crown that was trying to claim his world.
The second day was beginning. And Aron Minami was ready to burn the crown to the ground.